Michael Bay may be set to pass over the reins of the Transformers franchise to a new pair of hands, with the director revealing he wants to take his career in a new direction.

USA Today reports that Bay is planning to appoint a new director for the fifth film in the series while he focuses his attentions elsewhere.

“There’s kind of a new chapter, a new direction in movies I want to make,” says Bay, who has been linked to a documentary on elephant poaching. “I have a lot of stories to tell. And it’s about flexing new muscles.”

The director had previously told Collider that he was uncertain whether he would carry on with the Transformers series, questioning just what else he could bring to the franchise.

“They are so fucking hard to make,” said Bay. “It’s every day for two years, seven days a week. And after you see this movie, you think, ‘Well, what the hell am I going to do next?’”

Transformers 5 is expected to arrive in 2016, with a release date yet to be confirmed.